Stepping out on faith, but looking for support/advice

[Torrean Edwards]

Early in my investing career, I had some success, but then the crash happened. It took more than a decade but I am excited (and terrified) to re-enter the fray.

After dipping my toes into the market, I have battled against my paralysis and taken the leap. I have a property (fix and flip) under contract, but now, shoot, the REAL work begins.

I am located in Milwaukee, WI, but my property is in a near suburb of the city. It was a VA foreclosure and in an incredible neighborhood. Structurally, the property is in pretty good shape EXCEPT one problem that I cannot properly assess: the plumbing will not hold pressure. I have some guesses as to what the problem may be, but I need a good, investor-friendly plumber.

I will also be doing all the cosmetic things you can think of: paint, flooring, bathroom reno, kitchen reno, so I am open to carpenter or design suggestions.  

Also, I am considering alternative financing options (beyond Hard Money). If anyone has tips or suggestions, I am more than open.

For better or worse, I am taking a leap. I am hoping the Bigger Pockets community can help. In fact, it was the community that got me this far! 

Thank you everyone.WIiling to share more details if people are interested! 

[Ken M.]

Quote from @Torrean Edwards:

Early in my investing career, I had some success, but then the crash happened. It took more than a decade but I am excited (and terrified) to re-enter the fray.

After dipping my toes into the market, I have battled against my paralysis and taken the leap. I have a property (fix and flip) under contract, but now, shoot, the REAL work begins.

I am located in Milwaukee, WI, but my property is in a near suburb of the city. It was a VA foreclosure and in an incredible neighborhood. Structurally, the property is in pretty good shape EXCEPT one problem that I cannot properly assess: the plumbing will not hold pressure. I have some guesses as to what the problem may be, but I need a good, investor-friendly plumber.

I will also be doing all the cosmetic things you can think of: paint, flooring, bathroom reno, kitchen reno, so I am open to carpenter or design suggestions.  

Also, I am considering alternative financing options (beyond Hard Money). If anyone has tips or suggestions, I am more than open.

For better or worse, I am taking a leap. I am hoping the Bigger Pockets community can help. In fact, it was the community that got me this far! 

Thank you everyone.WIiling to share more details if people are interested! 

If the plumbing won't hold pressure, you have a leak. It can be located a couple of different ways depending on circumstances. First the obvious, look for wet areas around all of the pipes. There is something called a "wet wall" that the pipes go through behind the toilet and sink or wherever pipes are. Listen to the wall and if it talks to you (a hiss) you have found a problem. You can enter the wall from the bedroom behind. It's easier to patch that way.  Turn the water heater valve off and see if that stops the pressure loss. Have the water department come out and they will check from the street to the house from leaks.

[Marcus Auerbach]

Quote from @Torrean Edwards:

Early in my investing career, I had some success, but then the crash happened. It took more than a decade but I am excited (and terrified) to re-enter the fray.

After dipping my toes into the market, I have battled against my paralysis and taken the leap. I have a property (fix and flip) under contract, but now, shoot, the REAL work begins.

I am located in Milwaukee, WI, but my property is in a near suburb of the city. It was a VA foreclosure and in an incredible neighborhood. Structurally, the property is in pretty good shape EXCEPT one problem that I cannot properly assess: the plumbing will not hold pressure. I have some guesses as to what the problem may be, but I need a good, investor-friendly plumber.

I will also be doing all the cosmetic things you can think of: paint, flooring, bathroom reno, kitchen reno, so I am open to carpenter or design suggestions.  

Also, I am considering alternative financing options (beyond Hard Money). If anyone has tips or suggestions, I am more than open.

For better or worse, I am taking a leap. I am hoping the Bigger Pockets community can help. In fact, it was the community that got me this far! 

Thank you everyone.WIiling to share more details if people are interested! 

Given the scope of your work, a simple plumbing leak would not concern me, it's a $200 issue at the most and ideally, it's just another line item when you do rough in plumbing for the kitchen.

Being in a Milwaukee suburb, I am guessing it's a 1960s ranch, probably with galvanized plumbing. The bigger concern I would have is low pressure due to blocked pipes, especially to the bathrooms. On buy-and holds we usually replace all the plumbing with pex, no matter what, because galvanized has a life expectation of about 60 years, so I usually take the sooner than later approach.

Stick with hard money, like Mach1 or or MKE hard money (Scott Lurie) as they will not leand on a deal that does not pencil out, so you have the added benefit of someone experienced looking over your numbers.

[Rebecca Knox]

I use Mariell Brown from MGA --he's a master plumber. 

If you're not using Hard Money and the property won't qualify for conventional financing, then you'd probably need to locate private money or if you have friends with IRAs, they can be self-directed to invest in real estate. I've been surprised at properties that have passed conventional financing though...and even FHA....also, one could present 2 offers to seller--one for a cash offer and one for seller financing (at a higher price of course).

[Gregory Chadwell]

Quote from @Torrean Edwards:

Early in my investing career, I had some success, but then the crash happened. It took more than a decade but I am excited (and terrified) to re-enter the fray.

After dipping my toes into the market, I have battled against my paralysis and taken the leap. I have a property (fix and flip) under contract, but now, shoot, the REAL work begins.

I am located in Milwaukee, WI, but my property is in a near suburb of the city. It was a VA foreclosure and in an incredible neighborhood. Structurally, the property is in pretty good shape EXCEPT one problem that I cannot properly assess: the plumbing will not hold pressure. I have some guesses as to what the problem may be, but I need a good, investor-friendly plumber.

I will also be doing all the cosmetic things you can think of: paint, flooring, bathroom reno, kitchen reno, so I am open to carpenter or design suggestions.  

Also, I am considering alternative financing options (beyond Hard Money). If anyone has tips or suggestions, I am more than open.

For better or worse, I am taking a leap. I am hoping the Bigger Pockets community can help. In fact, it was the community that got me this far! 

Thank you everyone.WIiling to share more details if people are interested! 

 Most likely galvanized pipes.  Many times, when i replace a water heater and take a look into some of the short pipes that connect, they are approx 80 percent closed.  When i replace water heaters i replace all the short pipes.   Otherwise, I would work backwards from the laundry basin for flow and work your way up to the slow faucet.  It may be as simple as a clogged aerator.  Unfortunately, one of my Apts had to have all the pipes replaced and at the time the retired plumber went with copper.  But nowadays pvc or pex is an easier fix. Also being a winterized foreclosure the sudden rush of water probably broke some things loose in the pipes. 

[Zachary Deal]

I would recommend posting the classified section of BP to see if you can find a Milwaukee area plumber that can help. Also, going to local RE meetups may be smart to see if any investors have good plumbers/contracts they use.

What sort of alternative financing options? Hard money would be the easiest and most common route to fund the purchase/rehab. Happy to answer any specific hard money questions if you have them